Casey Stoner’s record lap of 1:21.067 at Sachsenring in Germany was untouchable for the past five years. But that changed Saturday during qualifying for round nine of 2014 MotoGP – the German Grand Prix.

En route to his seventh pole of 2014 MotoGP, the reigning champion Marc Marquez set a new lap-record at Sachsenring – a 1:20.937.

Advertisement

Joining Marquez on the front row is teammate Dani Pedrosa – who crashed with three minutes remaining in qualifying – and home favorite, LCR Honda’s Stefan Bradl.

“The weekend has been affected by the crash I suffered yesterday, but I kept my nerve and little by little we’ve been getting better. I felt good yesterday afternoon and I was much better this morning,” Marquez says.

“In the few laps I did in FP4, I could see that we had a good pace and a chance to fight for pole position. With the first tire I didn’t feel entirely comfortable, but with the second one I had a good feeling and could see that there was good grip – so I decided to push a little more and put in a strong lap.

“Starting from the front is important for the race tomorrow, because this is a circuit where it is difficult to overtake. We will try and keep up the pace from practice, which I think has been good.”

Marquez, who won every round so far this season, was untouchable; he finished 0.296 of a second ahead of Pedrosa, and 0.403 ahead of Bradl.

Heading up the second row is the top open-class rider so far this season, NGM Forward Racing Yamaha’s Aleix Espargaro. He is joined on the second row by the Movistar Yamaha MotoGP duo of Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi, respectively.

Cal Crutchlow (Ducati Team) missed out on a Q2 ride having crashed at high speed at turn 11, taking a big tumble through the gravel at the end of Q1. Crutchlow was unhurt and quickly went back to his pit box for a debrief despite initially looking quite shaken by the accident, MotoGP reports.

The riders will return to Sachsenring Sunday for the Germany Grand Prix, which will be televised on Fox Sports 1. Coverage begins at 7 a.m. EDT, and includes a rerun of Assen MotoGP.

Search

Stay Connected

If it has two wheels, Ultimate Motorcycling has the inside scoop. From the latest motorcycle and apparel reviews, to MotoGP results and OEM sales reports, Ultimate Motorcycling covers it all. Our small but passionate staff works endlessly to deliver quality and enjoyable motorcycle content.